22-year-old Andrea Gonzalez, a young Mexican woman, was going about her normal life – studying, making friends, taking part in activities… – when the inevitable and fundamental questions were raised:

– Where do I want to be in 10 years?
– Who do I want to be in the future?
– What legacy do I want to leave in this world?
– What will people say about me if I am no longer here tomorrow?

She remembers: “Some of these questions are on a waiting list, kind of like what happens with a playlist of songs we create on Spotify. Sometimes we jump to the next question, leaving some behind, or wanting to click ‘remove Ads’, like we do with YouTube ads.”

However, it’s impossible to skip these answers forever. So, with courage and an open mind, she decided to listen to what God wanted for her life.

9 young women say “yes” to a consecrated life as Sisters of Mary

Andrea is one of nine young women who will say “yes” to a consecrated life as part of the Secular Institute of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary this Saturday, January 27, 2024.

The ceremony will take place in the Adoration Church in Schoenstatt, Germany.
During the Solemnity of the Investiture, they will receive the dress of a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary. In the invitation they write a prayer from Father Kentenich addressed to the Blessed Mother: “Mary, make us likenesses of your image”.

Who are the future novices?

The young women come from six countries:

Andrea González Valdez, from Mexico (read her testimony)
Catalina Sofia Duggan, from Argentina (read her testimony)
Christy John, from India
Estrella María Ortellado Almada, from Paraguay (read her testimony)
Małgorzata Renata Andrzejkowicz, from Poland (read her testimony)
Margreate Anthony, from India
María Belén Gómez González, from Paraguay (read her testimony)
María Elina San Román, from Argentina (read her testimony)
Verónica Rina García, from Spain (read her testimony)

A game of hide and seek

Belén, a 28-year-old Paraguayan speech therapist, tells us: “In the last years of college, different questions began to pop up regarding my future life. At first, they were related to the career I was finishing, but one question led to another and so I came to a central one: What did God want or what did God have in mind for my life? Answering this question took me a long time. God was knocking on the door of my heart and I, time and time again, was ignoring Him. It was like playing hide-and-seek.”

When clarity came to her about her vocation to consecrated life, Bélen knew what to do: “When I discovered that God’s Will for me was that I consecrate my life to Him, I had no doubt that it was in the community of the Sisters of Mary. In them I can see how each one embodies Mary with her own authenticity and thus carries her into the world. I felt peace when I was finally able to utter that monosyllabic word, so simple and short, but so important: Yes”.

Being like Mary

Estrella, a 24-year-old Paraguayan engineer, gives us a down-to-earth account of how she discerned her vocation: “I began to write down the moments when I had experienced God’s guidance in my life, starting from my childhood. I reviewed my life and went through the experiences, people and places that had left their mark on me. With the help of the Blessed Mother, in prayer, I discovered God’s messages in my life, in the small and simple things of my day-to-day life. And so, it became a reality for me, that God has a unique plan of love”.

Responding to the vocation, for Estrella, implies a step of childlikeness: “The Blessed Mother taught me to trust and to allow myself to be led by God who is Father…I no longer need to have everything planned, but only to allow myself to be loved so that I can learn to love and to give my Yes. Schoenstatt has given me the gift of discovering that just as I am, in my smallness, I can aspire to resemble the Blessed Mother, a little more each day”.

The road in search of a vocation is beautiful

Małgorzata, a 25-year-old Polish woman, says that her “Yes is only a minor response of love to the invitation by a great love.”

For young people who are discerning their vocation, she gives three suggestions: “1) Recognize God’s will; 2) Accept God’s will; 3) Respond to God’s will.” And she also states, “I hope you have great courage to accept the adventure with God and an open heart to be able to joyfully say ‘yes’ to his plan of love.”

Veronica mentions prayer as one of the keys to discovering one’s vocation. And she concludes, “The most important thing on this path is to remain open and do something, not to stay on the couch waiting for God’s call, but to pray and show God through your life that you desire the very highest and wish to follow the path He has intended for you. Because whether it is a consecrated life or a married life, our life is for the Lord. The path of seeking a vocation is precious, because God comes to meet you and comes to show you what He has planned for you in, from and for love.”

Follow the ceremony of the novices’ investiture live

The day of the investiture is unforgettable for the Sisters, because they receive their dress as a Sister of Mary. We hope they have a profound experience on the way to the fulfillment of their personal ideal. Everyone is invited to participate in the ceremony live on the German channel of the Sisters of Mary.

Date: Saturday, January 27
Time: 11 a.m. (local time in Schoenstatt, Germany)
Broadcast: Youtube, channel Schönstätter Marienschwestern

For this day, the young women are counting on your prayers and offerings to the Capital of Grace.